History

The history of the Phantom in UK service is what will be covered here; other web sites cover the basic
aircraft in much detail and I see little point in duplicating that effort.

Artist's impression of the P.1154(RN); BAE Systems

The Royal Navy's initial plans in the 1960s were to replace their Sea Vixens with a supersonic VTOL type, the
Hawker P.1154RN. This was a navalised variant of the P.1154 which the RAF wanted to replace their Hunters with.
The RN wasn't entirely happy with this, and what they wanted - a two seat interceptor - differed somewhat from
what the RAF wanted - a single seat ground attack/recce type. A design with a single engine and predicted
service date of 1968 also worried the RN. It was no mistake that McDonnell-Douglas popped into RNAS Yeovilton
with their new F-4B in 1961 on the way back from the Paris air show; they also produced documents with titles
such as 'F-4 in Royal Navy Service' and pushed the benefits of the aircraft - it was available right now, and
it would be cheaper than the P.1154.

Fast forward to 1964, and the P.1154RN was cancelled; the RN had made their mind up and wanted the F-4 instead. Later that
year the new Labour government came to power and also cancelled the RAF's P.1154 and TSR.2, leaving the RAF with no Hunter
replacement, and no Canberra replacement. Suddenly the F-4 was looking much more attractive. Biting the bullet
and ordering the F-4, the MoD did at least get agreement to re-engine the aircraft with Rolls-Royce Speys, and
to have parts of the aircraft built in the UK - e.g. BAC would build the rear fuselage, Ferranti would build
the radars (though the American design would be kept). Based upon the F-4J, two UK versions of the Phantom II
were produced. The Royal Navy was to receive the F-4K, and the RAF were to get the F-4M.

The first RN F-4 - YF-4K XT595 on its first flight, 27th June 1966; Boeing

The F-4K, the RN's carrier variant, needed to be made compatible with the RN's carriers, which were rather
undersized in comparison with their US counterparts. The entire nose radome needed to fold 180 degrees in order to
fit the aircraft onto the deck lifts; the nose leg needed to be extendable so that the aircraft could sit with
the nose much higher at take-off in order to reduce the amount of wind needed over the deck at launch. Larger flaps,
drooping ailerons and slatted tailplanes were also required to improve take-off performance. Thankfully some
of these additions were already being introduced in the F-4J. The RAF, however, would have been quite happy
with a standard F-4 and looked upon all the additions - including Speys - as being completely unnecessary,
and using up valuable time and money that could have been used to finance a larger purchase.

The first RAF F-4 - YF-4M XT582 during a test flight in 1967; Boeing

On paper, using Speys looked like a great idea, as they were more powerful than the J79s fitted normally, and
more fuel-efficient. However, it would not be an easy match. The engine bays needed to be enlarged, and the
rear fuselage redesigned to cope with the slight exhaust down-angle needed to further improve take-off
performance. Speys required a greater flow of air so the intakes had to be enlarged and even then
auxiliary intake doors had to be introduced on the fuselage just forward of the tail. All of this work took
so much money and time that the supposed off-the-shelf cheap buy was turning into a protracted and expensive
procurement. The benefits of greater thrust and fuel economy were also practically negated by the higher drag
caused by the enlarged fuselage. Acceleration at low altitude was improved; however at high altitude the
F-4J performed better. Happily for the pilots of UK F-4s, the Speys were significantly less smoky than the J79s,
so a British F-4 was at least trickier to acquire visually!

The first three F-4Ks (or FG.1s as they were designated by the UK) were delivered to RNAS Yeovilton
in Somerset in April 1968 and these formed No.700P Intensive Flying Trials Unit along with three more
examples delivered later. In January of the next year trials had progressed far enough for the FAA
to be able to form a training unit, and so 767 NAS was commissioned. With only 28 FG.1s available to the
Navy, there would only be enough for a single front line squadron in addition to the training squadron
and trials unit. 892 NAS, formed in March, would therefore be the Navy's only front-line Phantom operator.
While 892 worked up, 700P underwent carrier trials on HMS Eagle and the USS Saratoga, a traumatic
experience for the American carrier which suffered burnt and buckled deck plating from the higher thrust of the
Spey engines. Eagle and Ark Royal would need water-cooled blast deflectors and deck plates and in
the event only the Ark received this upgrade. The new type's first public appearance was made by a 700P
example at the 1968 Farnborough show where the massive thrust of its Speys certainly made an impression
on the crowd.

FG.1 XT865 of 892 NAS catapults from Ark Royal; MoD(RN)

Unfortunately for the Royal Navy, their plans of operating 140 Phantoms on HMS Ark Royal, HMS Eagle and the
new super-carrier CVA-01 were dealt a massive blow when the government cancelled the new carrier,
and the plans for refurbishing existing carriers. Only Ark Royal would be modernised and the order for
F-4Ks was cut again and again until only 48 examples were ordered - and 20 of these were diverted
to the RAF! The RAF were also receiving their first Phantoms, the examples diverted from the RN's order.
In fact some of the 767 NAS FG.1s were delivered in RAF camouflage instead of Navy markings
as they were intended to move to RAF use so soon. 892 knew this too and suspecting they would be the last
fixed-wing type to equip the FAA (proved wrong in 1980 with the introduction of the Sea Harrier),
their squadron marking was a large Omega symbol on a white diamond placed on a red fin flash.

So, procured for the worst of reasons but perhaps with the best intentions, the Phantom entered service with
the RN and RAF. Prompting one admiral to ask if it had been delivered upside-down, the aircraft could never
be described as a looker and in fact one of its nicknames was "Double Ugly"! HMS Eagle saw a brief period
of Phantom trial operations in the English Channel, but most FAA Phantom flying was initially from their
home base at Yeovilton with detachments to RAE Bedford and its dummy carrier deck facilities. 892 gained
their 15 minutes of fame when one of their Phantoms won the Daily Mail's Transatlantic Air Race in May 1969
(commemorating the 50th anniversary of Alcock and Brown's crossing of the Atlantic). In the process they
set a record for flight time from New York to London - 4 hours 46 minutes and 57 seconds. Once HMS
Ark Royal was ready in 1970, Phantoms from 892 NAS were embarked and serious operations could begin, with
jets from 767 also using the carrier for practice. All too soon though 767 was disbanded - with the
Phantom training task passing to the RAF in 1972. RN Phantoms moved in this year too, from RNAS Yeovilton to
RAF Leuchars.

FGR.2 XV432 of 6 Sqn, 1970; MoD(RAF) via Garry Lakin

The RAF, meanwhile, had been busy forming a number of Phantom squadrons. RAF Coningsby was to be home for
the greatest number of them - 228 OCU was first, forming in August 1968. Following them, 6 Squadron in
May 1969, 54 Squadron in September 1969 and 41 Squadron in April 1972. Leuchars saw a single squadron - 43 -
being formed in September 1969. RAF Bruggen in Germany saw the formation of 14 and 17 Squadrons in July 1970,
2 Squadron in December 1970 and 31 Squadron in July 1971. While the RAF Germany F-4s were only minutes away
from the Soviet border, Lightnings continued to guard the frontier, and the RAFG Phantoms were tasked with
ground attack and interdiction as well as reconaissance. The 'R' in 'FGR.2' was really a bit of a misnomer,
as only 30 or so Phantoms were actually equipped with the wiring necessary to use the big EMI recce pods.
While 2 Squadron worked up, the Hunter FR.10s they were previously equipped
with were, unusually, kept in service - so effectively there were two seperate 2 Squadrons in operation! This
sort of thing soon became common in order that the strength of the NATO-declared RAF forces in Germany
never diminished while new equipment (particularly the later Jaguar) was introduced.

43 Squadron up at RAF Leuchars had much longer flight times to deal with than the RAFG squadrons.
The Phantom was better suited to long-range interceptions over the North Sea than the then-prevalent
Lightnings, and 43 Squadron's birds were soon regularly intercepting
Soviet intruders (in cooperation with Shackletons and RN Gannets from
Lossiemouth) and preparing the way for the gradual phase-out of the Lightning in this role. 43 Squadron
were joined by the Phantom Training Flight, also using FG.1s diverted from the RN Phantom order. While
the FAA's operations very gradually ran down, RAF squadrons continued to be formed, with 19, 23, 29, 56,
92 and 111 Squadrons joining the fun between 1973 and 1976, the height of UK Phantom operations.

Two 56 Sqn FGR.2s patrolling the North Sea; MoD(RAF) via Garry Lakin

With increasing recognition that the Phantom was much better suited than the Lightning to defending
the UK's airspace and the surprise success of the Jaguar programme, RAF Germany in particular began
to lose its Phantoms, which were re-tasked with air defence while Jaguars took over the ground attack
and recce roles. Revenge of a sort was had when one Phantom shot down a Jaguar over Germany - it was, of
course, an accident. So the story goes, anyway! Moving swiftly on... several Phantom squadrons converted
to Jaguars - 6, 14, 17, 31, 41 and 54 all disbanding and reforming with Jags between 1974 and 1977.
RAF Coningsby had always been the primary RAF Phantom station, and most of the newer squadrons had been
formed there. While the Jaguars had ended Coltishall's days as a Lightning station, the Phantom put
paid to its days at Wattisham also, leaving only Leuchars and Binbrook operating English Electric's
finest. Even then its days at Leuchars were numbered and with 23 Squadron's reformation as a Phantom
squadron, the Lightning was to be found only at Binbrook, where it filled a gap left by the still-
insufficient number of Phantoms. Therefore, the government's cost-cutting in the 1960s ensured the
Lightning soldiered on longer that it really should have done - every cloud has a silver lining!

1978 saw the final withdrawal of the RN's Phantoms, with HMS Ark Royal paying off, destined for
the scrapyard. 892's FG.1s remained at Leuchars but passed to RAF charge with 111 Squadron who
passed their FGR.2s onto other squadrons. Settling down to their tasking of UK air defence, the
RAF's claims to be able to defend the RN fleet were soon to be proved to be a nonsense when in
1982 the Argentines invaded the Falkland Islands, a British territory in the South Atlantic. With
Ark Royal already reduced to saucepans, there was no way to intervene until the RN's smaller
'Harrier carriers' reached the area, and RAF Phantoms (a small detachment from 29 Squadron)
were limited to defending the staging post at Ascension Island, lacking the range to cover the
huge distances involved. The folly of the the retirement of the RN's big carriers would soon
cost lives, and perhaps more importantly for the bean counters in government, it would cost
them several big expensive ships.

F.3 ZE355 making noise over RAF Akrotiri; Tom McGhee

With Britain's victory in the Falklands, the airstrip at Port Stanley - the islands' capital -
was upgraded to enable temporary Phantom operations while a serious station - RAF Mount Pleasant
- was being constructed. 23 Squadron moved from Wattisham to Stanley in March 1983, taking
over from the 29 Squadron detachment. This left a gaping hole in the UK's own air defence and
adding to that delays in the Tornado ADV programme and the unexpectedly high amounts of fatigue
life expended by the RAF's Phantoms when used in the ground attack role, the MoD soon realised
it was in desperate need of some more aircraft. In the usual "You couldn't make it up" style of
procurement, the RAF ended up buying some more Phantoms - off-the-shelf F-4Js recently retired
by the US Navy! After all the fuss of producing UK specific versions, the best performing
UK-operated Phantoms would turn out to be more or less stock F-4Js with only minor modifications
made. They even had improved J79 engines, reducing the famous Phantom smoke trail to levels
similar to those of the Spey-equipped F-4Ks and F-4Ms. Designated as F.3s, this didn't really
catch on and they were more usually referred to simply as F-4J(UK)s.

XT852 being serviced by BAe, RAF Scampton, 1988; Kev Darling

In 1986 23 Squadron once again to the new station of RAF Mount Pleasant, but by 1988 had been
reduced to a flight of only four aircraft (and redesignated as 1435 Flight) in anticipation of
immiment replacement by Tornado ADVs. Binbrook's Lightnings were also retired and replaced by
Tornados. In 1989, 43 Squadron disbanded, re-equipping with the Tornado F.2, and 111 Squadron
went the same way in 1990. By 1990 some of the F-4Js were becoming increasingly tired and several
had been grounded to be robbed for spares, and it was decided to retire them as quickly as
possible, replacing them with FGR.2s from the squadrons that had disbanded. In the middle
of all this, however, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and RAF Phantoms had their second chance of some
action. Unfortunately for the Phantom force, they were relegated to guarding Cyprus - an
important tasking, but lacking any opportunity to bag some bad guys. The Tornado force, it
seemed, had been given the juicier deployment to Saudi Arabia. Of course, they never bagged
any bad guys either, so the new boys never had a chance to rag the Phantom squadrons about
it!

A 74 Sqn FGR.2 takes off from RAF Wattisham, March 1992; Allan Barley

By 1991 the UK Phantom force had been reduced to four squadrons, all based at RAF Wattisham.
92 Squadron disbanded in July; 19 Squadron disbanded in January 1992. 56 Squadron were next,
in June. With only 74 Squadron left, the outskirts of Wattisham were scattered with retired
aircraft, many marked with a blue cross to let the satellites of the former Soviet Union
verify that the aircraft were out of use. The end of an era was marked on 1st October 1992,
when 74 Squadron performed their final formation flypast, and Wattisham fell silent.

RAF Wattisham dump, March 1992; Allan Barley

There would, sadly, be one final chapter in the UK Phantom story, and it is not a happy ending.
Ludicrously despite being partly manufactured by UK firms, and bought with UK taxpayer's money,
the USA had stipulated that the aircraft could not be disposed of to non-government
organisations. Thus an important part of the UK's aviation history has for the most part
been reduced to scrap despite museums across the country crying out for a chance to
exhibit an example of this powerful aircraft. A few have somehow escaped the bureaucratic
edicts from above, but it is a small number. Most that were not immediately scrapped on
retirement have succumbed to the scrapman's attentions in the years since, the final mean-spirited
act in the story of the UK's Phantoms.

Visitor Comments

21 people have commented on this page. This is comment section 1 of 3.

Alan Knowler from Lincoln

Posted at 11:33am on Friday, August 11th, 2017

I was lucky enough to have a back seat flight in a 56 Sqn Phantom whilst serving at RAF Akrotiri in July 1990. Unfortunately I didn't make a note of the aircraft serial number as I would love to see the aircraft again if it survived to be a museum exhibit. The squadron letter on the nose wheel cover flap was S. Has anyone any idea of the serial number or the aircrafts fate? I sus6though that it was scrapped.

Robert McLean from N.Ireland

Posted at 12:47pm on Monday, February 16th, 2015

Worked on the Phantoms at 23MU Aldergrove,kneeling below the F4 running at full power at the attenuator was an experience never to be forgotten. That was forty years ago, glad to have been part of it.

John Holden from Jacksonville, Fl

Posted at 1:18am on Saturday, January 10th, 2015

I was a tech rep and instructor for Westinghouse Defense Systems. We built the radar system for the Phantoms. I was assigned to England during the transition of the F4K and M. I spent time at Yoevil, Holme, and Boscomb. 1967-70. Enjoyed the duty very much. Love England.

NIGEL (BUNGY) EDWARDS from Spain

Posted at 6:31pm on Sunday, December 14th, 2014

Chris Harrell ,remember you well/I was on 892 as well and used to play football with you at Yeovilton{Airworks} Yes I loved the old F4 even got the scars on the head from the sidewinders to prove it

Donald Grant from Kent, England.

Posted at 7:33pm on Tuesday, November 4th, 2014

I watched the first RAF aircraft being delivered to Aldergrove from the control tower. My Dad was an air traffic controller and I was 11years old! Loved the aircraft ever since.

Chris Harrell from Thailand

Posted at 7:27pm on Friday, August 8th, 2014

Joined PTF at RAF(RNAS) Leuchars in July 76, after SAMCO's and type training joined 892 in May 77 and was very sad to leave 892 and the Ark Royal in December 78. Great times with magnificent people. Thanks for an informative website. Was first involved with the Phantom at Yeovilton in 1971 working on the salvage section, maintaining the arrestor gear, PUAG and Sprag and also the Barriers. Single engine failures were especially sporty at the PUAG site as the aircrafts landing speed was significantly higher t... read more »read more »

Troy Ledbetter from Garland,Tx

Posted at 8:15am on Tuesday, July 1st, 2014

I worked on the runway with F4s in the USMC, recovering them. Being so close was always always exciting. My favorite job was working point because I was right on the edge of the runway. Having the beast land, coming at you at 150 MPH, going to full throttle temporarily was always an attention getter and that was during the day! Night ops were even better!

Ricky Gilbert from Chesterfild

Posted at 11:41pm on Friday, April 18th, 2014

It was the phantom that made me want to join The R. A. F. As a young boy I would marvel at this splendid aircraft dreaming of flying the phantom but sadly due to medical and eyesight problems I neither got the chance to fly a plane or even join the R. A. F. However I still envy the lucky ones that got to fly these wonderfull aircraft.

Lionel A from Fareham. Hants

Posted at 7:18pm on Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

Ian Kavanagh.

That the Spey was fitted to the UK Phantoms for reasons of increased power for the shorter catapult run and also the aircraft accelerated quicker and had longer endurance than with the J79. USN and Marine F4s were launched from Ark during cross operating but at lighter loads than would otherwise have been the case with a fully laden F4k (FG1).

I attended a Phatom Spey makers Maintenance and Troubleshooting course at RR Derby and then a airfarme SAMCO (Short Aircraft Maintenance Course) a... read more »read more »

Ian Kavanagh from Liverpool

Posted at 10:14am on Friday, December 6th, 2013

I heard the Speys were put in the Phantom because the extra thrust was required to get them off the smaller, and slower, British carriers, and not because of some 'Buy British' attitude. Any truth in that? Also, would a J79 F4 have managed to get off the deck of HMS Ark Royal/Eagle? I only ask because in comparing their catapult take off length and landing runway to the American carriers, but not the overall deck space, they seem to be the same.